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Chain pulling
Chain pulling is a killing strategy in which a puller or pulling team leaves fights early in order to start pulling additional mobs, while their teammate(s), pet(s), or DoT(s) finish off the current target(s). Technically, chain pulling can be part of a soloing strategy (e.g. root rotting); however, when the term is used by players in-game, it nearly always refers to pulling for a group or raid. Understanding "when" to leave the fight to bring back the next foe(s) is a major part of chain pulling's learning curve. Pulling too soon can bog the party down or even cause wipes, but pulling too slowly can create unnecessary downtime, allow unwanted respawns, and defeat the purpose of the puller(s) leaving the fight early in the first place. Strategic Impact When executed correctly, chain pulling creates a continuous fight until a med break is needed, allowing characters to keep applying their sustained DPS without between-fight downtime, which tends to speed up clear times and increase the rate of experience gain. Since EverQuest's out of combat regen mechanic does not kick in until a character has been out of combat for thirty seconds (in solo or group content), chain pulling is especially favorable because it minimizes time spent waiting for the regen timer to count down, since the party tends to be either constantly fighting or holding pulls entirely. In areas with a fast respawn rate, chain pulling may be necessary in order to break spawns effectively, particularly for parties that lack hard crowd control such as mez. Classes and Abilities Useful in Chain Pulling Pulling Bards, enchanters, monks, and (at later levels) rangers possess some of the strongest combinations of abilities for chain pulling. The bard's high mobility and ability to apply lull, snare, and mez effects gives the class considerable versatility in chain pulling. When a fight begins, the bard plays songs as normal to buff the party, and then runs off again to get the next target(s). If a party is killing fast enough, the bard can use short-duration mezes to set up domino pulls, allowing the bard to spend more time in the camp while mobs "pull themselves." (Stub, add the other classes' info.) Killing The wizard's ability to inflict heavy burst damage makes it a strong class to have around when chain pulling, at any level range. If a pull comes in too fast, the wizard can simply blast the current target to death with heavy-hitting, mana-inefficient spells - sacrificing a bit of mana in order to keep the transition between fights smooth. At level 78+, the warrior's Opportunistic Strike line of abilities makes that class an ideal tank for chain-pulling parties, since Opportunistic Strike can be used to help quickly finish off the current target if the next pull comes in a little too fast. Other Management Against content that is of a low enough level to be stunned, a paladin tank can stun a foe that arrives too early, allowing the party a few more seconds to finish off the current target, and generating some initial hate in the process. The rogue's single-tick mez abilities likewise come in handy, since they can be used to momentarily shut down a target that arrived sooner than intended, In general, having at least one class in the party (other than the main tank) with situational offtanking capabilities is advisable when chain-pulling is the goal. The character doing this need not be able to tank for very long, but must be able to serve as a distraction until the current target is fleeing or dead. Most classes that make effective chain pullers can already provide this offtanking themselves, with monks and rangers being capable of it even with minimal AA investment. Other classes that make good picks for this role include beastlords (between their pet, their own health, and their higly reusable Protective Spirit Discipline, they do well at this), magicians (picking up the next target with their elemental pet), and defensively prepared berserkers.